Backpacking with light photo equipment

On a recent 3 day off-track backpacking trip I decided to go lighter than usual: skip the tent and take just a tarp, take just the minimal food and leave the "gourmet" at home, and lighten my camera equipment.
I committed to have with me a set of 3 diminutive lenses from the Pentax-110 SLR system adapted to Micro Four Thirds: the set is lighter than one single vintage lens that I carried in the past.
There is however a challenge with those lenses: apart from being manual focus only, there is no iris in the lens to control the aperture but a simple wide-open value of f2.8.
On the longer lenses of 50mm and 70mm in particular I had to be very careful with focusing to get my subjects sharp. The payback was a lighter pack, more angles of view to choose from (from multiple lenses) and ultimately that look that my zoom modern lenses can't give me.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/1600sec

 My friends Melt and Gill, also keen photographers, had more conventional lenses with them.


Pentax-110 70mm f2.8  1/200sec

And this is what they were photographing


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/2000sec

I came across this empty nest, so beautifully crafted.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/320sec

I also used the 50mm lens paired with an extension ring of 10mm to get some close ups


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8 + 10mm macro ring  1/500sec

and the 24mm with the extension ring to give me an extreme close up of lichen:


Pentax-110 24mm f2.8 + 10mm extension ring  1/6400sec

Running along on the side, some distance away,  while my friends were hiking, proved more difficult to get a sharp image: I had to magnify my scene in the electronic viewfinder to nail the thin depth of field.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/4000sec



Pentax-110 50mm f2.8

While rather versatile these lenses are not as universal as my modern auto-focus zooms. The difference that I find is in the look that I get from these lenses that were designed in the 70's for a film camera that was truly miniature. The 110 film however never really did give credit to their sharpness and re-purposing and adapting them to digital cameras unleashes the real full potential.

PS the display of this website however, by interpolating and compressing the original files, also dwarfs the sharpness of the Pentax-110 lenses; full size files are muuuuch sharper..
.

Snowgum grove

My favourite trees.
Twisted by the harsh winter winds their resilience is inspirational.


G-Lumix 14mm f5.6  1/125sec

.

Green time, shoulder deep

I long for green time way more than screen time.
Behind the key board I watch way too much this screen when what I really want is to be outside instead.
I am lucky that wide open spaces with not too much human interference are only a few hours away from here: a 3 nights under the stars is what my mind and body needed.
Green time to balance out my screen time.


adapted lens from miniature SLR system Pentax-110: 70mm f2.8 (fixed)  1/200sec

.

The Circus tent under the snowgums

Few shelters evoke outdoors as much as my "Circus" tent.
A Black Diamond Megalight, it is my lightest shelter; just a glorified thin sil-nylon tarp shaped into a pyramid.


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5  @f4  1/6sec

It has no floor and despite the occasional bug that might crawl in I can have a bed of flowers adorning my "living room"
It shelters me from wind and rain, and despite flapping a bit in the breeze no other shelter is as versatile or roomy as the Circus tent.


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5  @f4  1/20sec

I have several other tents that totally seal me from the bugs when they are really pesky but I don't get the same feeling of being outdoors as with the floorless shelter. And when it comes to shoulder my pack with my gear and supplies for several days in the back-country I appreciate how light my shelter really is.

.

Spencers creek

A few minutes of the golden hour illuminated the puffy clouds above our camp.


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5  @8  1/15sec to 1/180sec (composite image)

New Year's Eve

I am not for one to party in a big crowd, celebrations in a drunken stupor and loud shouting.
I am more for the quiet place with selected cherished friends, exotic location, kind of guy.
New Year's Eve was celebrated away from any noise, but the one of wind, cascading water and my little gas stove.


G-Lumix 14mm f5.6   1/6sec

We were tired from walking and rock-hopping; set up camp early.
I had no idea when midnight struck as I was sound asleep.
.

Shelter in the forest

There is no forest more enticing than a snowgum one, up high, close to tree-line.


G-Lumix 14mm   f5.6  4sec

The weather twisted trunks look spooky, the dead branches bleached by the elements; however the soft grass that grows around snowgums is inviting to place my shelter.
I feel safe here knowing that the tortured trees will shed some of the high wind, if it had to pick up during the night.

.

Ready for dinner

As the light starts to soften and the day comes to an end, there is more time to relax around camp.
The shelter is ready and dinner will be started soon.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4   @f4  1/60sec

Spending the night out in nature is one of the simple things that add value to my life.

.

Waking up in nature

I make sure I can leave the city already on a Friday night to then drive for a few hours, West, into the bush.
A short walk in the dark and set up camp, sometimes late.
It's all worth it, for waking up on the weekend one more morning in nature .


Lumix G 14mm  f5.6 1/180sec



SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 @2.8  1/1500sec

The granite belt

Running along the spine of Australia's East Coast is the Granite Belt.
The bare giant boulders allow for distant vistas particularly enchanting at sunset.

Lumix G 14mm   f8 1/30sec

There is something about the granite rocky landscape, the smooth surreal surfaces and the grandiose scale of it all. Around the world I have always been drawn to this type of landscape; the High Sierra in California and the Scandinavian Baltic Coast my other special places.

Green Time

because green time is way better than screen time  _ Cassandra Lavalle


Canon 300HS


and here is the (current) future

.

Light shelter

The morning welcoming to a new sunny day.



M.Zuiko 14-42mm RII  (at 14mm)  f3.5  1/500sec


.

Silver water

A clear stream away from civilization is an oasis for my spirit.
The sound of the rushing water cleans away my internal noise accumulate in the city.


M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ (at 14mm)  f7.1  1/800sec

.

Puddle jump

Inspired by the iconic classic image of the jumping of a puddle this image is the antithesis of that environment.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm (at 9mm) f5.6 1/250sec

.

Simple camping

Camping is part of my happiness.
To keep myself grounded I feel the need to go outside, away from my home, sleep on the ground.
A very light shelter to keep me dry and a warm sleeping bag are essentials; I try to keep the rest to a minimum to fit inside a small backpack.


Lumix G 20mm  f1.7  1/640sec



M.Zuiko 9-18mm (at 18mm) f5.6  1/60sec

Away from the city and its distractions time slows down and my eyes open to take-in what the natural surroundings offer me instead. The little things that I can not notice while preoccupied with my mundane urban life suddenly come into view when in the bush.
And the friends I choose to share my outings with can receive my attention, I have time to listen to them.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm (at 9mm) f5.6  6sec

My shelter is simple: a thin modern tepee that lets the ground be felt.
A bit of grass, leaves and bark, a small rock in the corner, are all part of my new home.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm (at 9mm) f5.6  105sec

.

Deep in the ferns

The gentle brushing of the ferns against the legs when walking in the forest without a path...


M.Zuiko 14-42mmEZ (at 14mm) f3.5 1/160

.